Solfire gathers data from nearly 100% of customers by literally handing the POS to them to add their details.

Solfire can then stay in touch to build a strong active lifestyle community.

The Challenge

A maker and retailer of stylish activewear, Solfire wanted to further establish itself as a hub for the fitness community.

The Solfire team launched their brand a few years ago with the aim of creating a unique experience for the fitness community and connecting with like-minded, active individuals.

The fitness retailer had the apparel part of it down, thanks to an obsession with quality products and a fierce dedication to working only with manufacturers who met their strict standards. In their brick and mortar store, they installed a juice and smoothie bar and a “fitness oasis” — a space for clubs to meet and classes to exercise.

But to really create that community they were after, Solfire needed a way to keep shoppers in the loop. First, the team put up a community board to showcase “all the studios, all the places people sweat, all of that within the area around our store.”

Then, Solfire turned to Vend and its customer features.

“After extensive research, we found that Vend allowed us not only to get an easy start but to be able to scale with our growth.”

Philip Pavkov, Chief Operating Officer at Solfire

The solution

Solfire worked Vend’s portability and ease-of-use to their advantage. The team literally hand the iPad POS over so customers can quickly and easily input their details.

Solfire chose Vend as their POS from the start. Now, they use it on iPads in their Brooklyn-based brick and mortar store, and they’ve turned it into an integral tool in the customer experience.

“Part of our ethos is that we’re creating relationships with people,” says Philip Pavkov, Solfire’s Chief Operating Officer. “Vend allows us to stay in touch with our customers and to establish our community even further.”

In addition to using Vend to build a customer base and foster that sense of community, Solfire uses Vend Reporting to make decisions on design, ordering, and production of their wholesale label. By knowing which sizes, styles, and trends are working, Solfire can profitably predict future production.

Alongside Vend, Solfire chose Shopify for their recently launched ecommerce website and Vantiv for integrated payments to speed up checkout time, reduce employee error, and save time at closing.

“At Solfire, we use Vend to really help build our community. We use it to connect with our customers and get their information; as we go through the sales transaction, we just flip the iPad around and ask them for their details so we can stay in touch and keep them updated on what’s happening in-store and in the community.”

Philip Pavkov, Chief Operating Officer at Solfire

The results

Near-perfect customer engagement, a lasting connection with shoppers, and a strong sense of community

By using Vend’s customer feature to give shoppers a seamless experience, Solfire has achieved a near-perfect customer engagement rate. Almost 100% of shoppers input their details so Solfire can stay in touch and inform them of happenings in the community.

The retailer has been able to easily train sales associates on Vend and its features and has found that our simple cloud-based POS allows the team to actually talk to customers and communicate with them rather than being distracted by a system that’s cumbersome and difficult to operate.

Thanks to Vend’s overall ease-of-use, portability, and flexibility, Solfire has been able to build that solid fitness community that was their goal from the start.

“Being that we’re focused on our relationships with customers, Vend wins every time because it allows us to stay engaged with the person in front of us”